Enterprise Virginia
November1998
by Jennifer Bennett MacKenzie

Building the Future: One Child At A Time

If you've never heard of sick childcare it's certainly no surprise to Gail Johnson, RN, MS, the founder of Rainbow Station Inc. That's because child development centers that cater to the short-term and chronic medical needs of children are few and far between. In fact, Rainbow Station is the only facility of its kind in the greater Richmond area. There are approximately five or six sick childcare centers in the whole of Virginia and 300-400 sites nationwide. "It's a unique system of care," explains Johnson. "This is a niche of service that is nowhere [to be found]."

A pediatric nurse with 25 years of experience, Johnson's credentials include being a visiting public health and home health care nurse; maternity, pediatric and nursery staff nurse; Lamaze instructor and School of Nursing faculty member in the Maternal Child Nursing Department at MCV/VCU and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. During her tenure as a teacher, Johnson was dismayed by the problems her students faced in dealing with their own sick children and decided to make quality child care her mission.

In 1989 she applied her skills as a nurse and educator to building a nationally accredited early childhood education center that today boasts two after-school recreation centers and three locations specializing in infant/toddler development, private kindergarten, on-site sick childcare and prescribed pediatric nursing care. With its trained medical staff the center can provide care for individuals recovering from surgery, those in need of or oxygen therapy, children with orthopedic conditions, seizure disorders and many other conditions that require daily attention.

"From the day we started we decided to position ourselves at the top," says Johnson. "We provide the very best in quality education with the idea that excellence breeds excellence and that our program would continue to grow. We're raising the standard in the community and that's one reason we decided to become accredited."

Johnson encourages parents to research the available child care choices and act wisely. "Parents need to be very aware of the child care standards. It's critical because we're raising another generation of children outside of the home and the levels of care are all over the map." Some important indicators to consider are teacher/child interaction, credentials of the teaching staff and whether or not a center is accredited by a national organization such as the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs.

Of course, watching a child thrive is the best indicator of a successful program and, as Rainbow Station expands once again to accommodate nearly 900 happy students, the results are obvious. "I've got so many families who say, 'we don't know what we'd do without you,'" says Johnson, "and that makes me feel like I can go on to another day. My goal is to continue to be worthy of their recognition."

Awards

• 1997 Virginia Small Business Person of the Year
• 1996 Rising 25 - a Top 25 Fastest-Growing Company in the Richmond metropolitan area
• 1996 finalist for the Virginia State Entrepreneur of the Year Award
• 1996 Greater Richmond Small Business Person of the Year

Affiliations

• President - National Association for Sick Child Daycare (1994 to present)
• Board member - Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce
• President - National Association for the Education of Young Children
• Prevention Advisory Board Member - Memorial Child Guidance Clinic
• Advisory Board Member - Leadership Colloquium for Professional Women